Peadar Tóibín
Question:72 Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the cost benefit of Farmleigh’s conference on job creation in 2010. [28890/11]
View answerTuesday, 18 October 2011
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Written answers
The first meeting of the Global Irish Economic Forum was held at the Farmleigh Estate in Dublin from 18-20 September, 2009. It was convened by the then Government with two broad goals: to explore how the Irish at home and abroad could work together and contribute to our economic recovery; and to examine ways in which Ireland and its global community could develop a more strategic relationship with each other. Some 130 leading Irish connected individuals living abroad from the business and cultural sectors attended the Forum. The overall cost of the Forum was €330,000. The formal report of the Forum sets out 59 specific and medium term objectives identified at the 2009 Forum. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade published updates in April and October, 2010 and in April 2011. These updates, which are available on the Forum's website www.globalirishforum.ie, demonstrate the significant number of proposals that have either been fully or substantively delivered by Government.
Some of the initiatives were general or thematic in nature and covered a range of sectors including: innovation; education; tourism; culture; diaspora engagement and network development. Other proposals were more specific and project orientated. The report "The First Global Irish Economic Forum — Two Years On" was prepared for participants at the 2011 Forum and provides an indication of the progress achieved on a number of the key initiatives, and a copy is being forwarded to the Deputy.
In addition to the specific initiatives, one of the most significant long term outcomes from the 2009 Forum was the significant increase in awareness it generated here within the public and private sectors of the importance of the Diaspora as a source of soft power. As a direct consequence of the Forum, many private and public sector entities now include a Diaspora dimension in their business planning strategies.
The Deputy will also wish to note that the Comptroller and Auditor General included a chapter on the 2009 Forum in his 2010 Annual Report which noted a "reasonable level of tracking and reporting". The second Global Irish Economic Forum took place in Dublin Castle on 7- 8 October, 2011 and the formal report of the Forum will be available shortly.